KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia pounded Ukraine’s capital with another major missile and drone attack overnight into Thursday, causing fires in areas across the city and killing two people a day after the heaviest aerial attack of the three-year war so far, according to Ukrainian officials.
“These people were killed by the Russians. This is a terrible loss. My condolences to their families and loved ones,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Administration.
He said at least 13 people were injured, and there were fires in at least five other districts at residential buildings, cars, warehouses, office and other non-residential structures.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said rescue workers were working at a residential building in Shevchenkivskyi District, after falling debris caused a fire on the top floor of an apartment building.
He said three of the injured had shrapnel wounds.
Karyna Holf, 23, was in the living room near the window when she heard a whistling sound from the incoming weapon. Moment later, little was left of the room but debris.
“After such a shock, when you know from your own experience what it’s like to lose everything,” she said. “I don’t even know what comes next. All I have now is a backpack, a phone, a winter coat — that’s it. This is my whole life now.”
Holf said she was grateful to have her parents to turn to, but added, “There are people who have no one at all.”
Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses with major attacks that include increasing numbers of decoy drones. The previous night, it fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones, topping previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks.
More people are seeking shelter during attacks, spending nights in metro stations and underground parking lots. One Kyiv station worker said more than a thousand people, including 70 children, took refuge there last night as Russian strikes intensified. One of them was 32-year-old Kyiv resident Alina Kalyna.
“The drone attacks a year ago were one thing, and now they’re a completely different thing. We’re exhausted,” she said. “I sleep poorly, I recover poorly, in fact I no longer recover, I am just somehow on a reserve of energy, of which I have a little left, I just somehow live and exist,” said Kalyna.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hasn’t budged from his ceasefire and peace demands since Trump took office in January and began to push for a settlement.
Trump said Monday that the U.S. would have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after Washington paused critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv. On Wednesday, the U.S. resumed deliveries of certain weapons, including 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets known as GMLRS, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity so they could provide details that hadn’t been announced publicly. It’s unclear exactly when the weapons started moving.
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Associated Press reporter Tara Copp in Washington contributed.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
